A Leader's Guide To Forging An Iron Clad Brand

“Brand helps us engage customers and employees, unleash our competitive advantage, and fuel enduring growth,” explains Lindsay Pedersen, author of the new book, Forging An Iron Clad Brand: A Leader’s Guide.”

“And yet, despite this power of brand, it is grossly underused. Few leaders leverage brand fully, believing (wrongly) that brand is squishy and elusive,” adds Pedersen.

In her book, Pedersen deconstructs what brand is and why it is indispensable for leaders. Particularly, for leaders who yearn to create something truly different and truly enduring. And, for leaders who have trouble galvanizing employees to a common purpose.

As you read the book, you’ll learn about the breadth of brand’s layers:

· Brand is what you stand for

·         Brand is relationship
·         Brand is your promise and your fulfillment of that promise
·         Brand is a filter
·         Brand strategy is the deliberate articulation of your business’s meaning
·         Brand fuels differentiation
·         Brand is your north star

Some of my favorite takeaways from Petersen are:

An ironclad brand differentiates your business in an enduring way. Product can be copied. Patents expire. Features obsolesce. What cannot be copied is a relationship. What does not expire is the trust you earn by particularly and consistently solving a customer need. What never gets old is delight.
Brand strategy is distilling the story of your business. Tell stories. We humans love stories. They make us feel part of something bigger and part of one another. They bind us. We instinctively want to hear them and tell them. Any leadership devise meant to inspire and connect – whether a public speech, an investor pitch, a motto, or an advertising message—is effective when it tells a story.

Read this insightful and practical guide to learn Pedersen’s eight-step approach for building a great and enduring brand.

Lindsay Pedersen

Pedersen is a brand strategist, executive coach, and public speaker, having worked with leaders at Zulily, Starbucks, T-Mobile, Coinstar, and IMDb. Earlier in her career, she worked in Brand Management at Clorox on businesses ranging from Hidden Valley Rand to Armor All to Brita to Clorox Bleach.

Thank you to the book's publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.

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